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Pamela Lee Worms
'Pamela Lee Worms '''was an Welsh-born American serial killer who was responsible for murdering her husband Moses, his two children, and a third relative, and was sentenced to death for Moses' murder in 1851. She was profiled in Season 13, Episode Three, of ''Deadly Women, "A Family Tragedy." Pamela had emigrated to the United States seeking a new start, her reputation at home in ruins after she'd had an extramarital affair and her husband, a preacher, threw her out and retained custody of the couple's children. She settled in New Orleans, where she met widower Moses Worms, a wealthy merchant who was raising his son and daughter from his previous marriage on his own. Pamela married Moses only two months after she arrived in America. When Moses' family inquired about Pamela's past, she claimed she was a widow. However, fearing that Welsh immigrants in the New Orleans community who knew her would recognize her and expose her true past, Pamela convinced her husband to move the family from New Orleans to rural Illinois. Thereafter, Pamela sought to cut Moses off from his family entirely, for fear that Moses' relatives would learn the truth about her past and tell Moses about it. She even hid the letters his family wrote him. Finally, Pamela agreed to let Moses return to New Orleans to visit his family, but she had no intention of letting him stay away for long. She lured Moses' 12-year-old son, Tom, into a trap and drowned him, then reported the boy missing so that Moses would have to return home. Tom's body was eventually found, but since drowning was such a common cause of death at the time, no one suspected murder. Next in Pamela's sights was a relative of Moses', known only as "Mrs. Brock," who came up to Illinois for a visit and shortly thereafter died of a stomach ailment. Then Moses' eight-year-old daughter also fell mysteriously ill and died. In the wake of all of this tragedy, Moses still yearned to return to New Orleans to seek comfort from his extended family. Then, Moses himself fell ill. Realizing that he was dying and that his wife was to blame, Moses managed to finalize his will before his death in October 1851. Pamela's secret past now appeared to be safe, only for Pamela to realize too late that her husband had disinherited her. Pamela's life went quickly downhill, as rumors about her began to circulate and an autopsy determined that Moses had been poisoned with several different lethal substances. Pamela was subsequently convicted in the murder of Moses Worms and was sentenced to death by hanging. Accounts vary as to how Pamela Lee Worms died. Some sources claim she was hanged in January 1852, as had been decreed; others claim she died of natural causes while awaiting execution and may have even committed suicide. What is clear is that while awaiting execution, Pamela confessed her entire story to a pastor, and showed no emotion or remorse for what she had done.